< previous page page_371 next page >

Page 371
Memory stirred in Alinor, memory of repeated insistence on Salisbury's unnecessary attendance on the king. "I think the tale came from a woman," she said, and then, after a pause, "I would lay long odds that it came from his wife. It comes to my mind that Lady Ela does not approve of her husband's close association with his brother. I misjudged that woman, Ian. She is very clever."
But Ian was not listening. He was staring at the window, and his eyes had the faraway look of a man who sees a vision. "A woman," he said softly, and then more softly, so that Alinor would not have heard if she had not been aware of the faintest whisper of his voice, "I had almost forgotten."
On the words he pushed back his chair hurriedly. He limped across the room, unlocked the coffer where the jewels lay, and searched roughly among them. Alinor was so surprised that she could not say a word, nor did she notice then what he extracted from the chest.
"The men will see you to the field," he threw over his shoulder at her. "I have an erranda call I must pay. Fare you well."
Frozen, mute with disbelief, Alinor watched him go. She heard his halting step down the stairs, heard him calling orders to his men and his squires, heard him mount and ride away aloneand still she could not stir nor utter a sound. A woman he had almost forgotten. He has left me, Alinor thought, perhaps to go to his death, without a kiss, or a tender wordwithout a look. This, I shall have to remember: a "Fare you well," cast at me like a clod of earth because his whole being was bent upon another woman.

 
< previous page page_371 next page >